Stem-cell research 'boosting' women's egg trade
An Australian researcher says demand for eggs for stem-cell research will put vulnerable women at increased pressure to sell their ova to unscrupulous dealers.
The University of Sydney's Associate Professor Catherine Waldby says the problem is most likely to affect women in poorly regulated countries who already supply eggs to rich nations for IVF programs and whose health can suffer as a result.
"There have been various serious medical problems develop in women involved in selling eggs," she said.
Assoc Prof Waldby's findings will be published in the New Genetics and Society journal.
The life sciences sociologist says she is concerned about the effect of stem-cell research on an already stretched global supply of women's eggs.
She is worried about the implication of obtaining eggs for therapeutic cloning, which are already in short supply because of the popularity of IVF.
Therapeutic cloning involves removing the nucleus from an egg and replacing it with one from a non-reproductive cell, of a patient for example, to produce an embryo for stem-cell research.
Assoc Prof Waldby says the onerous nature of procuring eggs means that donation is rare in countries like Australia, where women are not permitted to sell their eggs on the open market, and demand is outstripping supply.
But the sociologist says growth in IVF, together with cheap air travel, has led to the development of clinics that trade eggs beyond the borders of national regulation, often selling eggs from poor nations to rich ones.
"They actually function as brokers between people in countries where they can't get ova and where it's very regulated, and countries where it's not," she says.
Assoc Prof Waldby says trafficking of ova from women has grown in eastern Europe in recent years.
She says one Romanian clinic has bought eggs from very poor women.
"The clinic was paying them about $US200 a procedure, which is about two months' salary for these women," she said.
Assoc Prof Waldby says one study found some women were repeatedly selling their eggs to pay for rent, clothes and even cigarettes.
UK authorities banned the purchase of eggs from the clinic in 2004.
The sociologist says there were concerns the clinic was not telling women about the risks involved, or looking after them when things went wrong.
Removing eggs involves multiple hormone injections and a surgical procedure.
Assoc Prof Waldby says some of the Romanian women developed ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, which involves painful abdominal inflammation, possible renal failure, infertility and cardiovascular problems.
She says there are a lot of countries where this could be a problem.
"Both China and India have large, impoverished populations, extensive networks of fertility clinics and burgeoning stem-cell industries, setting the scene for exploitative forms of oocyte procurement," she said.
US egg market
Assoc Prof Waldby says that unlike Australia and the UK, the US allows women to sell their eggs on the open market.
Women with desirable characteristics can get up to $US100,000 per cycle from IVF clinics for their eggs.
But she says eggs for research do not command such high premiums because they depend less on characteristics.
She says at least one US company has been set up specifically to procure eggs for the biotechnology industry, paying women around $US4,000 per "donation".
This is despite a US National Academy of Sciences recommendation against the use of purchased eggs for research.
Assoc Prof Waldby says there should be international laws that prohibit scientists from using any cell lines derived from eggs procured in the absence of ethical guidelines and oversight.
Australian stem-cell researcher Professor Bernie Tuch, from the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney, says donating eggs is difficult and risky, and it would be a pity if Assoc Prof Waldby's predictions were right.
But Prof Tuch emphasises Australian law prevents trading in human eggs.
"[Waldby's concerns are] of no direct relevance to Australia," he said.
He also says National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines require imported embryonic stem-cell lines to be developed under the same conditions that apply in Australia.